Hushabye
by Arctic Banana
Summary: Nothing is more disturbing than seeing a helpless animal lie dying in the street while everyone remains oblivious towards its suffering. So thinks Blackout.


Here's to anyone who's ever lost a pet. Having lost both a dog and a cat to the horror that is the car, I actually got emotional at certain points while writing this.

The title comes from the Korn song, "Hushabye".

* * *

Why? Why? Why?  
Hushabye  
Hushabye, why aren't you ready to go?  
Why? Why? Why?  
Hushabye  
Couldn't we fast forward all through this show?

Korn- Hushabye

* * *

She was sure she had looked both ways before crossing the intersection. So how had she been hit? She lay in the street, helpless as she bled out. She watched as mechs walked around her, walked at a distance from her, walked _on top_ of her. As soon as the light changed, a barrage of vehicles came. Most of them swerved around her, but as she was very lengthy, they still managed to drive over her tail. One of them didn't care and just plowed right through her, spraying the street with more of her fluids and external shell and dragging her a good ways down the road. Nobody cared that she was in pain. Nobody cared that she was dying. After all, she was only an animal to them. Animals didn't feel pain. They only got used to it.

Warm fluids pooled around her. Someone roughly grabbed her by the tail and dragged her to the side of the road to the gutter, so she was "out of the way" as he did say. Ironic. She was born in the gutter, a lowly scavenger that society thrust aside to make way for superior beings, and now here she was again, bathing in her own fluids as her sparkpulse slowed. She was ready to accept this cruel fate Primus had thrust upon her.

That's how he found her. A helpless little creature looking on slowly while everyone went about their lives, ignorant of the suffering she was in. That's why Blackout hated society. He hated how one life could be held inferior, just because it came from a place they'd never consider living in themselves. To him, they were the weak ones. He praised any life that could make a living from absolutely nothing. They were the truly superior beings.

He approached the dying creature in the gutter, not caring that his bulk obstructed the traffic. They could wait. He ignored the angry shouts from those trying to get through and stared into the optics of the scavenger. "Help me!" they seemed to be saying. His spark just about broke when he saw this creature, silently pleading for him to save it. He reached under her head and lifted it up out of the mixture of sewage and spilled fuel and gently stroked her face. He shot dirty looks at the Cybertronians who had transformed out of their vehicle modes to walk around him, as most of them were now cursing him out. Someone tapped his shoulder and he spun around with great celerity and anger. A femme held out a blanket to him. She nodded towards the scavenger in the gutter.

"Thank you," he said, accepting the blanket. She smiled and transformed, driving off. So maybe not all of society was horrible then. There was always that one selfless person.

He wrapped the blanket around the scavenger and very carefully picked her up, cradling her in his arms, and started back the other way to his apartment. Once home, he set her down on his berth and carefully peeled back the fluid-soaked blanket. Fluids had begun to coagulate on her surface armor, even as more still gushed out of her wounds. Blackout's first task would be to stop the fluids before she completely bled out.

The scavenger stared back at him as he sealed up fuel lines and welded broken fluid storage tanks. For the first time in her life, someone actually cared about her. No one had ever showed her compassion before. For once, she felt something other than pain. Someone actually cared about her…

Blackout worked to the best of his ability. She still seemed in horrible shape, however. Components were broken beyond repair, many of which were vital to her survival. All he could do now was wait. He left her covered up on his berth and returned with a dish of food, leaving it next to her.

"You must eat something, sweetheart," he whispered to her when she shunned it. He watched the scavenger curl in on herself as her abdomen momentarily seized in pain. "Please don't die on me…" he begged her as he lightly stroked her. She twitched a few times, her abdomen apparently still in a great amount of pain, though he couldn't determine why, as it was the least damaged part of her body. "If you promise to live, you'll always have a home here. I will protect you."

Love. That was an emotion she'd never felt before. It was an emotion she thought she'd never feel. But right now, that feeling surpassed her pain. Her eight legs lightly clicked together as they pulled inwards. She let out a coo of appreciation. Her abdomen seized one last time before it finally let her be for the time being. She closed her optics shutters, intent on sleeping now. Sleepy…she felt so sleepy… But why? She felt something lightly press against her neck. He was giving her a kiss… This made her coo again before she finally dozed off.

"I promise that nothing will ever hurt you again," he whispered to her.

* * *

Blackout didn't like having to leave her in the morning, but he couldn't miss any more work or he'd be out of a job. Again. As soon as they let him go, he sped home, as quickly as possible. A drive-by shooting wouldn't have slowed him down, even if he'd been the one shot. He quickly slammed his apartment door shut and rushed to his room where he left her. She was curled up into a tight ball, her long tail wrapped around her body protectively. He reached out and stroked her…she felt cold. He gently shook her, but to no response.

He fell to his knees and shook her again, praying to Primus she was only sleeping. His head slumped into his arms on the edge of the berth as he sobbed. He couldn't save her…

He was unaware how long he was crying, but he was sure it was a while. The only thing that made him stop, just momentarily, was when he heard a coo. He looked up. Could she still be alive? Just barely, maybe, but alive none-the-less? He reached out and touched her. No…she was cold like death. She was forever lost to him. Without moving his hand, he lowered his face back down into his arm as the tears returned. He looked back up again when he heard another coo. He was about to write it off as mental grief causing him to hear what he wanted to hear, when he saw movement. He gently pushed through the mass of tangled legs and carefully loosened the ball she was bound in. A tiny little being stared back at him. A tiny little scavenger…

Blackout suddenly realized that his good deed hadn't been in vain. He'd saved a life after all… She had been so banged up and damaged that he hadn't even realized she was pregnant. The baby scavenger cooed again and nuzzled his finger. He managed a smile through his tears. The baby's presence indicated that she trusted him. Scavengers never gave birth if they felt there would be a threat to their offspring if they could help it. Deep inside, he felt that this baby was her way of saying thank you. Thank you for making her feel loved in her final moments.

"Welcome to the world, Scorponok."


End file.
